About this time, a Spanish vessel from the Canaries, laden with fruit,
the greater part of which had been sold at Goree, Sierra Leone,
Gallinas, and Cape Mesurado, dropped anchor opposite my little
roadstead with a letter from Blanco. The Spaniard had been chartered
by the Don to bring from the Grain Coast a cargo of rice, which he was
to collect under my instructions.
My _barracoons_ happened to be just then pretty bare, and as the
season did not require my presence in the factory for trade, it struck
me that I could not pass a few weeks more agreeably, and ventilate my
jaded faculties more satisfactorily, than by throwing my carpet-bag on
the Brilliant, and purchasing the cargo myself.
In the prosecution of this little adventure, I called along the coast
with cash at several English factories, where I obtained rice; and on
my return anchored off the river to purchase sea-stores. Here I found
Governor Findley, chief of the colony, laboring under a protracted
illness which refused yielding to medicine, but might, probably, be
relieved by a voyage, even of a few days, in the pure air of old
Neptune. Slaver as I was, I contrived never to omit a civility to
gentlemen on the coast of Africa; and I confess I was proud of the
honorable service, when Governor Findley accepted the Brilliant for a
trip along the coast. He proposed visiting Monrovia and Bassa; and
after landing at some port in that quarter to await the captain's
return from windward.
I fanned along the coast as slowly as I could, to give the Governor
every possible chance to recruit his enervated frame by change of air;
but, as I looked in at New Sestros in passing, I found three trading
vessels with cargoes of merchandise to my consignment, so that I was
obliged to abandon my trip and return to business. I left the
Governor, however, in excellent hands, and directed the captain to
land him at Bassa, await his pleasure three days, and finally, to bear
him to Monrovia, the last place he desired visiting.
The Rio San Juan or Grand Bassa, is only fourteen miles north-west of
New Sestros, yet it was near nightfall when the Brilliant approached
the river landing. The Spaniard advised his guest not to disembark
till next morning, but the Governor was so restless and anxious about
delay, that he declined our captain's counsel, and went ashore at a
native town, with the design of crossing on foot the two miles of
beach to the American settlement.
As Findley went over the Brilliant's side into the Krooman's canoe,
the jingle of silver was heard in his pocket; and warning was given
him either to hide his money or leave it on board. But the Governor
smiled at the caution, and disregarding it entirely, threw himself
into the African skiff.
Night fell. The curtain of darkness dropped over the coast and sea.
Twice the sun rose and set without word from the Governor. At last, my
delayed mariner became impatient if not anxious, and despatched one of
my servants who spoke English, in search of Mr. Findley at the
American Settlement. _No one had seen or heard of him!_ But, hurrying
homeward from his fruitless errand, my boy followed the winding beach,
and half way to the vessel found a human body, its head gashed with a
deep wound, floating and beating against the rocks. He could not
recognize the features of the battered face; but the well-remembered
garments left no doubt on the servant's mind that the corpse was
Findley's.
The frightful story was received with dismay on the Brilliant, whose
captain, unfamiliar with the coast and its people, hesitated to land,
with the risk of treachery or ambush, even to give a grave to the dust
of his wretched passenger. In this dilemma he thought best to run the
fourteen miles to New Sestros, where he might counsel with me before
venturing ashore.
Whatever personal anxiety may have flashed athwart my mind when I
heard of the death of a colonial governor while enjoying the
hospitality of myself,--a slaver,--the thought vanished as quickly as
it was conceived. In an instant I was busy with detection and revenge.
It happened that the three captains had already landed the cargoes to
my consignment, so that their empty vessels were lying at anchor in
the roads, and the officers ready to aid me in any enterprise I deemed
feasible. My colleagues were from three nations:--one was a Spaniard,
another a Portuguese, and the last American.
Next morning I was early aboard the Spaniard, and sending for the
Portuguese skipper, we assembled the crew. I dwelt earnestly and
heartily on the insult the Castilian flag had received by the murder
of an important personage while protected by its folds. I demonstrated
the necessity there was for prompt chastisement of the brutal crime,
and concluded by informing the crowd, that their captains had resolved
to aid me in vindicating our banner. When I ventured to hope that _the
men_ would not hesitate to back their officers, a general shout went
up that they were ready to land and punish the negroes.
As soon as the enterprise was known on board the American, her captain
insisted on volunteering in the expedition; and by noon, our little
squadron was under way, with fifty muskets in the cabins.
The plan I roughly proposed, was, under the menacing appearance of
this force, to demand the murderer or murderers of Governor Findley,
and to execute them, either on his grave, or the spot where his corpse
was found. Failing in this, I intended to land portions of the crews,
and destroy the towns nearest the theatre of the tragedy.
The sun was still an hour or more high, when we sailed in line past
the native towns along the fatal beach, and displayed our flags and
pennants. Off the Rio San Joan, we tacked in man-of-war fashion, and
returning southward, each vessel took post opposite a different town
as if to command it.
While I had been planning and executing these manoeuvres, the
colonial settlers had heard of the catastrophe, and found poor
Findley's mangled corpse. At the moment of our arrival off the river's
mouth, an anxious council of resolute men was discussing the best
means of chastising the savages. When my servant inquired for the
governor he had spoken of him as a passenger in the Spanish craft, so
that the parade of our vessels alongshore and in front of the native
towns, betokened, they thought, co-operation on the part of the Mongo
of New Sestros.
Accordingly, we had not been long at anchor before Governor Johnson
despatched a Krooman to know whether I was aboard a friendly squadron;
and, if so, he trusted I would land at once, and unite with his forces
in the intended punishment.
In the interval, however, the cunning savages who soon found out that
we had no cannons, flocked to the beach, and as they were beyond
musket shot, insulted us by gestures, and defied a battle.
Of course no movement was made against the blacks that night, but it
was agreed in council at the American settlement, that the expedition,
supported by a field piece, should advance next day by the beach,
where I could reinforce it with my seamen a short distance from the
towns.
Punctual to the moment, the colonial flag, with drum and fife,
appeared on the sea-shore at nine in the morning, followed by some
forty armed men, dragging their cannon. Five boats, filled with
sailors instantly left our vessels to support the attack, and, by this
time, the colonists had reached a massive rock which blocked the beach
like a bulwark, and was already possessed by the natives. My position,
in flank, made my force most valuable in dislodging the foe, and of
course I hastened my oars to open the passage. As I was altogether
ignorant of the numbers that might be hidden and lurking in the dense
jungle that was not more than fifty feet from the water's edge, I kept
my men afloat within musket shot, and, with a few rounds of ball
cartridge purged the rock of its defenders, though but a single savage
was mortally wounded.
Upon this, the colonists advanced to the vacant bulwark, and were
joined by our reinforcement. Wheeler, who commanded the Americans,
proposed that we should march in a compact body to the towns, and give
battle to the blacks if they held out in their dwellings. But his plan
was not executed, for, before we reached the negro huts, we were
assailed from the bushes and jungle. Their object was to keep hidden
within the dense underwood; to shoot and run; while we, entirely
exposed on the ocean shore, were obliged to remain altogether on the
defensive by dodging the balls, or to fire at the smoke of an unseen
enemy. Occasionally, large numbers of the savages would appear at a
distance beyond musket range, and tossing their guns and lances, or
brandishing their cutlasses, would present their naked limbs to our
gaze, slap their shining flanks, and disappear! But this diverting
exercise was not repeated very often. A sturdy colonist, named Bear,
who carried a long and heavy old-fashioned _rifle_, took rest on my
shoulder, and, when the next party of annoying jokers displayed their
personal charms, laid its leader in the dust by a Yankee ball. Our
cannon and blunderbusses were next brought into play to scour the
jungle and expel the marksmen, who, confident in the security of their
impervious screen, began to fire among us with more precision than was
desirable. A Krooman of our party was killed, and a colonist severely
wounded. Small sections of our two commands advanced at a run, and
fired a volley into the bushes, while the main body of the expedition
hastened along the beach towards the towns. By repeating this process
several times, we were enabled, without further loss, to reach the
first settlement.
Here, of course, we expected to find the savages arrayed in force to
defend their roof-trees, but when we entered the place cautiously, and
crept to the first dwelling in the outskirt, it was empty. So with the
second, third, fourth,--until we overran the whole settlement and
found it utterly deserted;--its furniture, stock, implements, and even
_doors_ carried off by the deliberate fugitives. The guardian
_fetiche_ was alone left to protect their abandoned hovels. But the
superstitious charm did not save them. The brand was lighted; and, in
an hour, five of these bamboo confederacies were given to the flames.
We discovered while approaching the towns, that our assault had made
so serious an inroad on the slim supply of ammunition, that it was
deemed advisable to send a messenger to the colony for a
reinforcement. By neglect or mishap, the powder and ball never reached
us; so that when the towns were destroyed, no one dreamed of
penetrating the forest to unearth its vermin with the remnant of
cartridges in our chest and boxes. I never was able to discover the
cause of this unpardonable neglect, or the officer who permitted it to
occur in such an exigency; but it was forthwith deemed advisable to
waste no time in retreating after our partial revenge.
Till now, the Africans had kept strictly on the defensive, but when
they saw our faces turned towards the beach, or colony, every bush and
thicket became alive again with aggressive foes. For a while, the
cannon kept them at bay, but its grape soon gave out; and, while I was
in the act of superintending a fair division of the remaining ball
cartridges, I was shot in the right foot with an iron slug. At the
moment of injury I scarcely felt the wound, and did not halt, but, as
I trudged along in the sand and salt water, my wound grew painful, and
the loss of blood which tracked my steps, soon obliged me to seek
refuge in the canoe of my Kroomen.
The sight of my bleeding body borne to the skiff, was hailed with
shouts and gestures of joy and contempt by the savages. As I crossed
the last breaker and dropped into smooth water, my eyes reverted to
the beach, where I heard the exultant war-drum and war bells, while
the colonists were beheld in full flight, leaving their artillery in
the hands of our foe! It was subsequently reported that the commander
of the party had been panic struck by the perilous aspect of affairs,
and ordered the precipitate and fatal retreat, which that very night
emboldened the negroes to revenge the loss of their towns by the
conflagration of Bassa-Cove.
Next day, my own men, and the volunteers from our Spanish, Portuguese
and American vessels, were sent on board, eight of them bearing marks
of the fray, which fortunately proved neither fatal nor dangerous. The
shameful flight of my comrades not only gave heart to the blacks, but
spread its cowardly panic among the resident colonists. The
settlement, they told me, was in danger of attack, and although my
wound and the disaster both contributed to excite me against the
fugitives, I did not quit the San Juan without reinforcing Governor
Johnson with twenty muskets and some kegs of powder.
I have dwelt rather tediously perhaps on this sad occurrence--but I
have a reason. Governor Findley's memory was, at this time, much
vilified on the coast, because that functionary had accepted the boon
of a passage in the Brilliant, which was falsely declared to be "a
Spanish slaver." There were some among the overrighteous who even went
so far as to proclaim his death "a judgment for venturing on the deck
of such a vessel!"
As no one took the trouble to investigate the facts and contradict the
malicious lie, I have thought it but justice to tell the entire story,
and exculpate a gentleman who met a terrible death in the bold
prosecution of his duty.